John r



(No Model.)

J. R. CUMMINGS. STEREOTYPE CASTING APPARATUS.

No. 442,515. Patented Dec. 9, 1890.

NITED STATE-S JOHN R; CUMMINGS, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

STEREOIYPE-CASTING APPARKTUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters .ratent No. 442,515, dated December 9, 1890.

Application filed March 26, 1888. Serial No. 268,561. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN R. CUMMINGS, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Stereotype-Casting Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The object of my invention is to provide a stereotype casting apparatus, or castingbox, as commonly called, which has but one bed and is provided with two counterparts or covers, whereby great economy of construction is obtained andwhereby I am enabled to make one apparatus accomplish the work of two as now commonly constructed, substantially as hereinafter fully described, and as illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation. Fig. 4 is a detail view.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a bed-plate, which is secured in avertical position by the vertical posts B, which are secured in and arise from the base-plate O and pass through lugs a a, projecting from the back of said bed-plate, as shown.

Projecting from the vertical side edges of the bed-plate near the top and bottom edges thereof are the knuckles b b, to which are pivotallyconnected by thepintlesdd theknuckles cc of the covers D D. These covers D are of the same dimensions as thebed-plate, against which one or the other (but not both at the same time) can be closed, as shown in the drawings. The inner surfaces of these covers are suitably recessed to produce the desired conformation of the underside of the stereotype plate or base when cast, and the matrix is placed in suitable register over said recessed surface and held there by suitable devices, so that when the cover is closed against the bed the matrix is clamped and held between said bed and cover.

In order to clamp orsecnre the covers against the bed-plate, I affix transversely to their outer side edges one or more dogs 6 e, the hooked ends of which, as shown in Fig. 4, project, preferably, past the plane of the recessed surface of said cover, so that their shoulders face toward the front of the apparatus when said cover is closed against the bed-plate. The pintles d d project up above the upper knuckles b of the bed-plate, and are providedwith the handles F, projecting therefrom toward the front of the machine, with which to oscillate them. These pintles are provided with a projecting stud or pin f, located with reference to the dogs 6, so that when one cover is closed against the bed-plate the piutle of the open cover can be oscillated by grasping handle F thereof and oscillating it toward the f rout of the apparatus, so as to move the pinsfagainst the shoulders of the dogs 6 and clam u said cover tight against the bed-plate.

To keep the handle F in the oscillated position necessary to keep the pins f in engagement with the dogs 6, I provide the postsg g, which are secured to and arise from the baseplate, as shown,so as to prevent the Opening of the covers beyond a given point. The upper ends of these posts are on a plane slightly above the top edge of the covers, and are serrated transversely, so, that the longitudinal serrations in the said handle (or other suitable devices usually adapted for similar purposes) can catch in said serrations and prevent the handle from oscillating back so as to release the dogs e.

As the weight of the covers D is a great strain on the knuckles forming the hinges thereof, I prefer to relieve this strain by journaling between suitable lugs projecting down from the lower edge of said covers about the center thereof the casters h h. These casters as the covers are oscillated travel on the baseplate or upon curved tracks it, (raised ordepressed,) secured to or made integrant with said base-plate and struck from the center of oscillation of said cover. If desired, the casters can be made slightly beveled and the tread of the said tracks h eorrespondingl y beveled, so as to accommodate the lesser radius of the inner edges of the tracks as well as the outer. The straight cylindrical surface for these casters would answer very well, but I prefer the beveled periphery thereof, because less friction is generated.

I do not wish to be confined to the use of the clamping devices consisting of the dog 6 and pin f, as her'ei'nb'efore described, because it is' obvious other clamping devices, some of which are now used on stereotype-casting boxes, could be adopted.

The operation of my improved apparatus is substantially as follows: The matrix is' first suitably secured to the cover. The cover thus fixed is closed against the bed-plate, the other cover having previously been opened so as not to interfere therewith, and clamped so as to hold it securely against said bed by oscillating the handle of the pintle of the open cover. The metal is then poured into the box in the usual manner. WVhen the casting has cooled sufficiently to permit removal, the cover is unclamped and swung open and thecastingremovedtherefrom. Then the other cover may be closed against the bed-plate and the casting operation repeated. Thus first one cover can be used in conjunction with the bed-plate and then the other.

What Iclaim is- 1. A stereotype casting apparatus consisting of one bed-plate and suitable covers hinged to opposite side edges of said bed-plate so that they may close against the same surface thereof.

2. The combination, with thebed-plate, the base-plate, the standards for holding said bedplate in a vertical position, and the tracks h, having their treads beveled, of the covers D, one hinged to each vertical side edge of said bed-plate so as to closeone at atime against the same surface thereof, and the casters h, 5

having their peripheries beveled, as set forth.

JOHN R. CUMMINGS. 'Witnesses:

FRANK D. THOMASON, PORTER B. Coomnon. 

